Who Can You Trust?
by Lady Nadia
Summary: Arya seems to be the victim of a brutal crime but she is really more powerful than anyone could have known. Arya offers to help Annie destroy the largest criminal empire in history. She could be the key to Annie's successful career but can she be trusted?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story takes place after episode 4 and I do not own any characters from Covert Affairs. This is my first fan-fiction so please submit reviews!

Chapter 1

Meet Arya

Annie and Jai stood on the dock as the CIA team searched Hassan's boat. Annie could not help feeling slightly guilty over Hassan's death even though she knew that it was not her fault. She had stopped McAuley from taking the shot at Hassan. Someone else had killed him, but Annie could not shake the feeling that she was somehow responsible.

"Look!" said Jai, breaking Annie out of her reverie, "There's a girl up there."

Annie watched as two CIA men carried a girl off the boat. Her skin was tan and her chestnut colored waves were tinted with red. Her eyes were half closed and framed by thick, dark lashes. She wore a dirty white dress that was in tatters. Annie watched as the girl's eyes fluttered open. They were piercing green with flecks of gold. The girl whispered something into the ear of one of the men holding her. The agents then carried the girl over to Annie.

"She wants you to be the one to take her back to Langley." said one of the men from the CIA. "She has some minor injuries, but they can be left untreated until we do a full medical exam at headquarters."

"I don't have a car." said Annie, confused at the whole situation.

"Then take mine. My men can all fit into the other cars." Annie could see that the agents wanted to help the girl even though they sounded cold. The men just did not know what to say. "The CIA will take care of you." said the agent gruffly.

The men placed the girl between Annie and Jai so that they could support her. She could walk but was woozy from the drugs she had been given. When they got to the car Jay took the wheel and Annie sat in the back seat with the girl. "What's your name?" asked Annie softly.

"Arya." she whispered, her voice low and musical. "Who are you?"

"I'm Annie. I'm going to make sure that you are safe." she spoke to Arya gently, unsure of Arya's mental state after her ordeal. "Can I ask you a question? Did Hassan hurt you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." she said fearfully.

"That's OK." said Annie reassuringly. "Can I ask you something else?"

Arya nodded.

"Why did you ask for me to take you to Langley?"

"I feel safer with you." she said, her words slurring slightly.

"Listen Arya, you don't have to answer any questions that you don't want to. Nobody wants to make you feel afraid or uncomfortable, but when you are ready we want to know what happened to you." Annie paused, afraid that she had pushed too hard.

Arya sighed but said nothing. She began to shiver so Jay gave her his suit jacket. She thanked him with a smile. After a few more minutes she fell asleep on Annie's lap. Once Annie was sure that Arya was asleep she asked Jai, "What on earth was this girl doing on that ship?"

"I have no idea." he replied. "But it's not going to be pretty. Arya has been through a lot."

Arya let out a whimper in her sleep and began to cry softly. Annie stroked Arya's hair and felt so bad for the poor girl. Several hours later they arrived at Langley, and Arya was still asleep. As the car pulled into the security check Arya woke with a start. She franticly pushed Annie away and tried to get out of the car. Annie caught her, but Arya kept struggling. "It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you." said Annie soothingly.

"That's what they all said." cried Arya, her eyes wide with terror.

"It's Annie. I'm from the CIA. You're safe here."

Arya remembered where she was and sank back into Annie's arms. Arya's body shook with silent sobs as Annie cradled her. Annie gently picked her up and carried her out of the car. Everybody stared as Annie and Jai brought Arya to the medical center. Arya buried her face in Annie's chest to avoid the watching eyes of the staff.

Doctor Brennan, the doctor on duty, was a kindly man with a full head of gray hair. He had been called while Annie, Jay, and Arya were still in the car so he knew that they were coming. He had Annie place Arya on the examining table.

Jai left to fill in Joan and Arthur on what had happened, but Arya insisted that Annie remain in the exam room. Arya flinched as the doctor touched her and applied antiseptic to her cuts and bruises. "I need to examine you for any evidence of sexual abuse." said the doctor. Arya's face went dead white.

"No," she said desperately, "you can't touch me. Annie, don't let him. No!" Arya began to hyperventilate. "No, let me go! Let me go!" she cried. Annie held Arya's hand and the girl clutched Annie's fingers tightly. Doctor Brennan gazed at her, his eyes full of pity.

"I'm just going to give you something that will calm you down, OK?"

Arya let go of Annie and did not look at the doctor. Her eyes were unfocused; she was lost in her own traumatizing memories. Doctor Brennan sedated Arya in case she came back to the present during the examination and placed a sheet over her waist. He conducted the examination as quickly as possible. Brennan finished and looked up at Annie.

"She had been raped repeatedly over a long period of time. The abuse may have gone on for years. I want her on antibiotics. Physically she will be all right in few weeks, but even I can see that she will need counseling for a long time. I hope you catch the bastard that did this."

"Me too." said Annie, her voice full of anger. She turned to Arya. "I swear that whoever did this to you is going to pay."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Arya's Story

Arya woke up in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm. She looked around and realized that she was not in a public hospital; this was a private medical facility. The question was who had put her here. A blond woman in a gray suit walked in and Arya remembered. The woman was Annie. She was in Langley at the CIA headquarters. Arya was ready.

"How are you feeling?" asked Annie.

"I'm all right." said Arya. "How long was I out?"

"You were sedated while you were being examined by the doctor yesterday afternoon and you slept through the night. Now it's nine o'clock in the morning. My boss has just assigned me to be your handler while you are here. Are you OK with that?"

Arya nodded.

"My boss wants to meet with you so that you can tell us what happened to you. I'm sorry. I wish they would let you rest for a while longer, but everyone needs to know your story because you might have some valuable information about the people who did business with Hassan Waaleed. I have some fresh clothes for you so you can change out of this hospital gown. I'm going to go to the conference room now, but my friend Auggie is outside. He will take you to my boss when you're dressed. "

"OK." said Arya. "I don't have much choice, do I?"

Annie shook her head sadly.

Annie left the room and Arya got dressed. Annie had brought her jeans, a purple sweater, and black flats. Arya looked in the mirror pleased that the clothes fit. She had bags under her eyes but she supposed she looked decent enough. Annie had been kind enough to leave a bag of toiletries so that Arya could brush her hair and her teeth in the adjoining bathroom.

Arya tentatively stepped out of her room. Augie was waiting for her. He was tall and good looking with brown hair and a sweet smile which he flashed as soon as she approached him. "Are you Auggie?" she asked.

"That's me." he said cheerfully. "The blind techie guide at your service. "Welcome to the CIA medical wing. Now we have to get to the conference room so please follow me." Augie turned on his laser cane and followed the green dots to the conference room, explaining the layout of CIA headquarters the whole way there.

"Are you coming in with me?" she asked.

"I hope not." he answered with a chuckle. "I avoid authority whenever possible."

"Thank you." she said. "Wish me luck." She stepped into the room.

"Good luck." said Auggie with a smile.

Arya entered the conference room and saw a table full of people all staring at her. "Have a seat." said an austere looking blond woman. "My name is Joan and I have some questions I'd like to ask you." Arya sat down uneasily. "What can you tell us about Hassan Waaleed. Now that he has been killed, we have no way of knowing who his buyers were. Can you tell us who he was selling weapons to?"

"I don't really know too much about Hassan because I was not with him for very long." said Arya.

"So why were you on his ship in the first place?" asked Joan.

"Hassan found me in Egypt after I had run away from … from a very dangerous man who wanted me back. Hassan wanted to hold me for ransom and see how much this other man would pay to reclaim me."

"Who was this other man?" asked Joan, discouraged that she would not be able to get any information on Waaleed.

"Carlos Mañoso." said Arya quietly.

"You know Carlos? Carlos the Jackal?" exclaimed Joan incredulously. "I think you had better start from the beginning."

With a deep breath Arya began her story.

"My parents died when I was a few years old and I have no living relatives. I was sent to live with my father's best friend. He raised me until I was sixteen and I filed for legal emancipation from my guardian. He had agreed to be my legal guardian just to get at my parents' money. For every year that he raised me he was paid a substantial sum of money, presumably for my care. I was set to inherit everything that belonged to my parents at sixteen, so he had no financial reason to keep me around anymore because he would not be paid anymore."

Arya smiled slightly at the memory of happier times.

"I left and went to travel the world. I fell in love with France and decided to live there for a while. I got a job at a café, which was when I met Carlos the Jackal; his French friends referred to him as le chacal. I now know that Carlos is a notorious arms dealer and sadistic pig, but at the time he was just a businessman who would eat lunch every day at the café. He asked me out for coffee and then we started going out to dinner or to the theater. Carlos was handsome and charming, and I was stupid. I told him that I was eighteen and had the fake ID to prove it. He said that he was twenty two, but I did not care about our age difference."

Her tone grew more somber, and the room could tell that the story was about to take a turn for the worse.

"After a month Carlos asked me to move in with him, but I told him that I was not ready to take such a large step in our relationship after only a month. He got really angry and left. I thought that was the end of us, but that night when my shift ended Carlos was waiting for me. He had a gun. He brought me back to his house. He lived in a secluded area and he assured me that no one would be around to hear me scream."

Her voice grew shaky and Annie could see Arya's hands were clenched into fists in her lap. "Carlos is a monster."

Arya looked down at the floor. She was ashamed to be telling this to a room full of strangers. Arya looked at Annie who gave her an encouraging nod.

"When he finished with me that first night I wanted to die. I begged him to kill me. After a few weeks of living chained to his bed, Carlos began letting me out of the bedroom during the day. I was allowed to go freely around the house, but there were armed guards at the entrance to the house so I couldn't leave. I was allowed to do as I pleased inside the house during the day provided that I . . . cooperated at night. Carlos had me cook for him and he would often throw dinner parties. I can identify some of the men that he met with because he would bring his best clients home for dinner. But in terms of what Carlos was buying and selling, I do not know exactly."

"We will have you work with a sketch artist later to see if we have any of these clients in our database." said Joan. "Please continue."

"Carlos would have the guards give me sleeping pills on the nights that he was not there to ensure that I would not try anything. I didn't swallow them. After I had saved up enough pills, when Carlos was on a business trip, I baked a pie for the guards with the sleeping pills mixed inside. I grabbed some cash that Carlos had hidden around the house. Once the guards were asleep, I ran. I bought several different tickets at the station. Once the guards woke up I knew that they would be looking for me, and this way they would not know which train I took. I went to Portugal. From there I got on a boat to Egypt. Carlos had his contacts all over the world looking for me. Hassan found me in Egypt. He was going to see how much Carlos was willing to pay for me. Then you found me."

"We want to bring down Carlos and his empire." said Joan. "We will make him pay for what he did to you. Will you help us?"

"Yes." said Arya. "Where do we start?"

Author's Note: I've noticed that there is such a drop in the number of hits from the first chapter of this story to the second one. Any ideas as to why that is?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I Hate Shrinks

Everyone had left the conference room except for Arthur and Joan, who remained to discuss their next plan of action. In the hallway Annie came up to Arya and have her a big hug. "You were amazing in there." said Annie. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks." said Arya. "I thought I was going to throw up the whole time."

"Do you remember the short Asian man in the sweater who was sitting to my left earlier?" asked Annie.

"Yeah," said Arya, "who was he?"

"He is a psychologist and we want him to talk with you. His name is David Hine. He is very nice."

"I don't want to see a shrink." said Arya firmly.

"I'm sorry but we need your psychological evaluation."

"So you know whether or not I told you the truth?" she asked harshly.

"That's right." said Annie gently. "We believe you, but it's just protocol."

Arya let out a sigh of frustration but followed Annie to Mr. Hine's office. Arya stepped inside and Hine offered her a seat on the couch. He sat opposite her in a chair with a pad of paper in hand to take notes. Arya watched him carefully. He was comfortable but alert. He noticed her sizing him up.

"Hello Arya. My name is David Hine, but you can just call me David. I would like to talk to you about how you are feeling."

"Can I ask you a question first?" she said.

"Of course."

"Is this session being recorded?"

"No, I am not recording this session. I have strict doctor patient confidentiality."

"Liar." she said softly. "The one thing I hate more than a shrink is a liar."

"I can assure you that I am not recording this session."

"You are avoiding my question. I asked if the session was being recorded. You said that you personally were not taping anything. _You_ might not be recording this session but someone else is. As I said, I don't like shrinks to begin with. But there is no way that I will talk to a lying shrink."

Joan and Augie sat at Augies's desk listening to the whole conversation through headphones. "She's good." Augie smirked. "She got him there."

"How about I ask you some questions? How long were you living with Carlos?"

"For two years."

"You certainly spent a lot of time with him. Since you were living under his roof you were very dependent on him for your survival. This dependency can sometimes lead to a form of attachment between the victim and the perpetrator."

"Oh yeah." she said sarcastically. "I just love Carlos. We're BFF's, didn't you know?"

"So you are saying that you have no feelings for Carlos?"

"I have feelings for him all right: Anger, disgust, hatred to name a few."

"Point taken." said Hine. "Do you feel safe now that you are here at the Agency?"

Arya prided herself on her self-control; it had kept her alive all these years. She could not afford to make any mistakes now, but she was losing her temper. "Do I feel safe at the Agency? No. It would be so easy for Carlos to bribe or threaten one of the agents into getting me out of here or letting him in. If Carlos knew where I was, you would not be talking to me right now."

"All right." said Hine. "After everything that you have been through, you may be experiencing some effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a condition brought about by some kind of trauma. The symptoms do vary but I want you to be aware that what you may be feeling is normal for someone under your circumstances. PTSD sufferers tend to re-experience the traumatic events in some way. Do you ever have flashbacks or nightmares?"

"Yes." she said. "I get nightmares. And when I wake up it takes me a minute to remember that I am not still with Carlos."

"I want you to know that you are not the only one who goes through this. I think we are done for today, but we will meet again soon to discuss relaxation techniques."

With a sigh of relief Arya walked out of the room. She found her way to Joan's division because it was near the conference room that she had been in that morning. Arya saw Auggie at his desk with Joan and heard him say her name. They were both removing headphones from their ears. She snuck up behind them and Auggie immediately stopped talking when he smelled her scent. "Can we get started on catching the bastard if you are done talking about me?" said Arya.

"We were just impressed with the way you handled Mr. Hine." said Auggie smiling. If he were able to see he would have caught the death stare that Joan was sending him. Auggie sensed Joan's dirty look anyway. "What?" he said, "She knew we were listening."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Something to Tell You

Joan brought in a sketch artist to work with Arya. "Take your time." said Joan. "We have never gotten a picture of Carlos before so make sure it is completely accurate. Also describe all of the people you saw Carlos meet with regularly to the sketch artist."

A few hours later the pictures were completed and hung up on a bulletin board in the Domestic Protection Division. Each of the faces was being run through a facial recognition database in the hopes of identifying Carlos's clients. Auggie smiled as he heard the familiar ding. Progress. "Our boy here is Abdul al-Bakiri. He is a Saudi billionaire. Most of his money is oil money, but he also owns a few luxury hotel chains. He is in the system because we suspect that some of his money is being used to fund terrorist cells. He is due in the States in a week for the opening of a new hotel."

"Perfect." said Joan. "I want a tap on his phone. If anything suspicious comes up, we grab him at the opening of the hotel."

Arya had to choose her next move carefully. She was fairly confident that no one at the CIA would be able to figure out who she was at this point but she did not want to give anyone a cause to dig further into her past. At the same time, Arya desperately needed help. Annie wanted to help Arya, but she was too much of a rule follower to be useful. Annie would never lie to Joan. Arya's gut told her to trust Auggie, which was what she would do.

Arya walked over to Auggie's desk. "Hey," she said, "can I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot." he replied.

"I need to talk to you in private. Are you free tonight?"

"Sure." said Auggie. "What did you have in mind?"

"Where do spooks usually hang out after work?"

"There is this bar that's pretty popular. But you can't drink, you're only eighteen. "

"So I'll just get a soda. I'll borrow an agency car and drive you over after you are done with work."

"I don't think that you'll be able to get your hands on a company car just to go out for a drink."

"Well I'll just have to use my mystical powers of persuasion." She smiled. "Or we can just take a cab."

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't think that Joan will just let you waltz on out of here. You had better get permission before you leave." Auggie felt his stomach lurch as he saw the steely anger in her eyes. Arya was still a prisoner even though she had been rescued. As she went to go find Joan, Auggie couldn't help but wonder what she had to tell him. He had a feeling that it was important.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this fan fiction. Reading your reviews will motivate me to update more frequently so keep them coming!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Truth

At the end of the day, Arya led Auggie to the parking lot where she unlocked an agency car.

"Agent Taylor didn't mind me borrowing his car." she said with a smile. "CIA men are really just a bunch of softies. I made a deal with Joan that I could go out just this once as long as I'm back with the car by nine and Taylor and one of his buddies keep an eye on us. This is my one shot at freedom until Carlos is caught so let's make it good."

Arya made sure that Auggie was settled with his seatbelt on before starting the car and driving off. She turned on the radio and was pleasantly surprised to hear "She's Not There" by Carlos Santana.

"Is the music OK?" she asked. "I have a thing for classic rock."

"Finally," said Auggie, "a woman who appreciates real rock and roll."

Arya began to sing along unintentionally and stopped, embarrassed, when she realized she was singing.

"Keep going." said Auggie encouragingly, "You're really good."

Arya laughed.

Auggie was struck by how carefree she sounded when she laughed and realized how much more tense her voice usually was. They arrived at the bar and Auggie was greeted by his usual crowd of admirers.

"I see you're quite the ladies' man." said Arya playfully. "Every girl here is watching me enviously."

"That's just because they wish they were as beautiful as you." said Auggie.

She giggled again. Auggie liked this playful side of Arya.

"How do you know I'm beautiful?" Arya challenged.

"I can tell by the way other people talk to you. Go over to the bartender and ask for a beer."

Arya walked up to the bar with Auggie.

"What can I get you?" asked the bartender.

"I'll have a scotch on the rocks."

"Are you new in town? I haven't seen you here before, and I never forget a pretty face.

"Yes," Arya said coyly. "I am new. See you around." She picked up her drink, flashed the bartender a smile, and led Auggie to a table.

"See what I mean?" said Auggie with a laugh. "He was too busy flirting with you to check for an ID. Give me the scotch before Taylor reports me to Joan."

"One sec." said Arya. She downed the scotch in one big gulp and placed the glass by Auggie's hand. "Scotch at your nine o'clock." she said.

"Did you just drink that?" Auggie picked up the glass and felt that it was empty except for the ice. "I am so screwed if Joan finds out about this."

"Don't worry about it. No one saw that."

A waitress walked by the table, and Auggie ordered a beer while Arya got a coke.

"So what did you want to tell me?" asked Auggie once the waitress was out of earshot. He made sure that their table was far enough away from Taylor so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"The truth." Arya said.

Her smile had disappeared and her face was now gravely serious.

"I don't like to trust people, but I'm going to make an exception because I need your help. I need to tell someone the truth, and you seem like the right guy to tell. Can you keep a secret?"

Auggie hesitated. He knew there would be no going back after this point. "Yes." he said finally.

"Everything I said earlier about Carlos was true, but the beginning of my story was complete bull. It all begins with Henry Wilcox. Do you know who he is?"

Auggie, along with everyone else at the agency, had heard of Wilcox.

"He and a rich scientist friend of his decided that this country needed an assassin who could operate off the books for the good of the country. They found egg and sperm donors and created a baby in a test tube. No one working on the project had any idea of what they were really doing because it was all compartmentalized. Wilcox and the scientist were the only ones who really knew what was going on. They experimented genetically on the fetus. These trials resulted in a baby who would mature into adulthood after only two years and remain that way for a long time, possibly forever. This child would also be able to do things that ordinary people could not."

"How is that possible?" asked Auggie incredulously.

"Genetic modification simply requires knowing which genes control what. The age thing was a little more complicated, but it goes something like this. The most basic body parts that control aging are telomeres, located at the very tip of the chromosomes. As a person gets older their telomeres divide. Stop the telomeres from dividing and you stop aging. I don't really know how they did it. This is completely new technology and has never been implemented besides for in this one case, as far as I know."

Arya paused for a moment. She steeled herself and continued.

"This baby, yours truly, has been trained for birth to be an assassin on behalf of the U. S. A. I speak six languages fluently and have six corresponding passports, all issued by the CIA. I have been trained to kill since I could walk. I know about all sorts of weapons, poisons, fighting techniques. I have killed countless people Auggie. My job was to be whoever I had to be to get my mark. I know you can't understand, but it took me years to realize that what I was doing was wrong. I had been trained my whole life to be a certain way, to act a certain way. It's hard to reverse that sort of brainwashing. Once I understood that people did not live the way I lived, I left. I was trained by a select group of people and I killed every single one of them except for Wilcox."

Augige started. He was shocked at how casually she had just admitted to murder.

"Wilcox has wisely chosen not to pursue me and just lets me do as I please. When I left, I fled to France and met Carlos. He knew after I had been with him for a few days that I had some kind of training and he took the necessary precautions. He instructed his guards to do all sorts of unpleasant things to me if Carlos was ever found dead. He implanted a tracker in my arm, which I had to dig out before I could leave. He also poisoned me so that I would be forced to stay with him to get the antidote. After giving me the antidote he would poison me again. It was slow acting, so it would not harm me for about six weeks after the dose was administered. I'm running out of time Auggie. I have twelve days left before the poison starts to kill me. You have to help me get the antidote."

"Wow." said Augie. "Give me a minute to process all of this. I'm a little overwhelmed."

"Time is of the essence Auggie," she said, her voice low and urgent. "You need to decide."

"I don't understand why you don't just tell Joan about the poison. I'm sure you could be healed much faster using CIA resources."

"When you tell a story you include details, right? For clarity."

Auggie nodded.

"When I speak naturally, not pretending to be someone else, but just talking, I am trained to say as little as possible. I have been told my whole life to only answer direct questions; not to form connections other than those necessary to get to my target. For most of my life, I have had no relationships. The only people I knew were my handlers, and believe me we were not making small talk. When Joan had me tell my story, I included details about my life so that I would sound normal. You have no idea how difficult it was to admit the truth to a room full of strangers, but I had to do it otherwise I would look suspicious. Now, I just don't want to have to say more about myself. I know you don't understand, but whenever I think about telling my true story this voice in my head just screams 'Don't do it!' For some reason I feel OK talking to you. Going about in secret is the way I am used to doing things, and I feel better dealing with the poison in this way."

"Tell me," he began, "was everything an act? Where you just pretending to be scared once the CIA found you?"

"Sort of. A part of me was that girl. Part of me was afraid and wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. I just tapped into that part of me and ignored the rest of me because I needed to be believable. I didn't want to raise any suspicions that I was anything other than an innocent girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In respect to Carlos, I am a victim. I just need to keep my identity hidden."

Arya leaned in closer to Augie.

"I need you Augie." Her scent of jasmine and honey grew stronger. "I trust Annie, but she wouldn't be able to help. You are the only one who can help me now; I don't have anyone else I can trust."

"I still don't understand. You poured out your guts to me and I've just met you. You keep saying that you trust me and Annie but you don't know either of us. Why do you trust us?"

"I am honestly not really sure. I just have this gut feeling that you are on my side. I've learned to trust my instincts."

"All right." said Auggie finally. "What do you need me to do?"

"If I were on my own this would be easier, but I am not allowed to leave the CIA again. I need you to be my link to the outside. I need you to take some of my blood and get it tested. The poison has had time to spread throughout my bloodstream, so maybe the poison will be identifiable. I should be able to get a test tube from the doctor's office. I'll give it to you tomorrow, and then you need to drop it off at this address."

She wrote the address on a napkin and handed it to Auggie.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." she said quietly. "Once this mess is cleared up, if you ever need anything, I am forever in your debt."

"Don't be so quick to thank me." said Auggie. "I haven't done anything yet."

Auggie had the uncanny feeling that Arya could see right through his shield of charm and wit, right through to the deep, dark hole inside of him. Even though he knew it was a dangerous idea, Auggie was going to help this girl because of the kinship he felt with her. Auggie was also alone; trapped by his blindness in a cage only he could see. And Auggie knew that Arya could sense the barrier around him because she was stuck in an invisible cage of her own.

Auggie and Arya left the bar in silence with Taylor and the other agent following carefully. Arya drove Auggie home and led him to his front door. She gave Auggie a kiss on the cheek and the scent of her lingered on his skin for a long time.

Author's Note: Please review! Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Taken

Arya returned the car to the agency parking lot while Taylor and his friend parked right behind her. She bid them good night and entered the medical wing. She approached a guard. By now, everyone knew who she was; even CIA agents like to gossip. "Excuse me," she said politely, "can you let me in to the doctor's office? I was given a bottle of antibiotics today, but I left them in the office. The doctor said that I have to take them every day, so I really need these pills. Could you help me get in there?"

"Don't let it happen again." said the guard but he unlocked the door anyway.

"I won't." promised Arya.

She entered the office and opened a cabinet full of test tubes. She quickly grabbed one, slipped it into her pocket, and shut the cabinet. Arya saw a bottle of aspirin on the doctor's desk and picked it up. She walked out of the office and shut the door. She held up the bottle, her hand covering the label, showing the guard that she got what she came for. "Thanks." she said and headed down the hall.

Arya made her way to the part of CIA headquarters called the apartment. It was a set of rooms which were used for operatives working long days who needed to crash. Now Arya was to live in one of the rooms until Carlos was behind bars. Joan did not want to risk Arya leaving the Agency, being exposed, and Carlos coming to reclaim her. Joan was already having regrets about allowing Arya to go out with Auggie in the first place, but Joan had agreed because she felt bad for locking up Arya once the girl finally thought she was free.

Arya entered the adjoining bathroom and placed the test tube on the sink. She found a razor in the cabinet and removed the stopper from the tube. Although she had no problem with blood and gore, the one thing that made Arya squeamish was cutting herself. Arya picked up the razor and made a small incision on her leg. She pressed the edge of the test tube against the wound and watched it fill with her blood. Once the glass tube was full, Arya replaced the stopper and pressed a tissue to the cut. She waited until her nausea had abated and proceeded to explore the room.

The furniture was generic, the type to be found in any decent hotel. A fairly large bed was pushed against the wall with a dresser on the opposite wall. A nightstand with a lamp on top of it was set next to the bed. In the corner was a small closet. The bedroom had an adjoining bathroom with a toilet, a sink, a medicine cabinet, and a shower. Someone, probably Annie, had placed the toiletry bag that Arya had been given earlier in the cabinet. Arya inspected everything thoroughly to make sure it was not bugged, more out of habit than necessity; she would not be saying anything that she did not want to be overheard.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Arya silently approached the door. She opened it quickly making sure that the door was between her and the person on the other side. Then she slammed the door back into the stranger as he took a step forward into the room. "What the hell?" cried Annie.

"I'm so sorry!" cried Arya. "I didn't know it was you."

"That's all right." said Annie, rubbing her forehead where the door had hit her. "Listen." Annie continued, "We need to talk."

"What's wrong?" asked Arya hesitantly.

"It's about your safety. We have a mole in the CIA who has been leaking information to the press for some time now. Joan is worried that the mole might tell Carlos where you are. Everyone already knows that you're here; there is nothing we can do about that now. However, only a few members of the DPD know that you are staying in this room. For your protection we are going to put you in a different room and I am going to sleep here tonight. If anything happens then we have narrowed down the identity of the mole. But you have no reason to be scared. I doubt that the mole, if he or she knows who are, has said anything to Carlos, and there is no way that anything will happen tonight. We just want to be extra careful, but I promise that you have nothing to worry about. You should get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

"All right." said Arya. "Be careful. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Arya slipped into the bathroom and grabbed her test tube, carefully tucking it into the waistband of her jeans under her shirt.

Annie sat down on the bed feeling guilty. Danielle had planned a girls' night where they could eat ice cream and watch "The Notebook." Annie did not especially enjoy romance movies, but she would sit through them to make her sister happy. Now Annie had given Danielle the lame excuse that she had a conference to go to in Maryland and she would be staying overnight, but she had just forgot to tell Danielle about it.

Arya paced up and down her own room. The probability of Carlos sending a team for her was very small. Even if the mole had been able to contact him that quickly, and Carlos was a hard man to find, it was unlikely that he could get a team assembled on such short notice. Carlos would not want to botch the job; he would send experts after her and forming a contract would take time. Arya told herself to relax. She had nothing to worry about at least for tonight.

Arya knew that sleep was out of the question, which was no big deal. She was programed not to need much sleep, and she would function perfectly fine as long as she slept a few hours every couple of nights. In general she preferred to sleep as little as possible; it was a waste of time to snore away life when there was so much to do. Instead, Arya began a long, slow stretch followed by a series of push-ups, crunches, and squats. After being locked away for so long, the burn in her muscles felt good. Then Arya sat on the floor with her legs crossed and meditated.

Annie lay in her bed with her hand resting on the gun under her pillow. She was far too nervous to sleep even though she suspected that the night would be uneventful. Minutes turned into hours, and all was silent in the CIA. In the middle of the night Annie heard the faint click of metal on wood. She clutched the gun, prepared to shoot. The door opened silently and four masked men entered the room. Annie pretended to be asleep. When the men stepped towards her, Annie rolled over and pointed her gun at them. Before she could pull the trigger, a rag was pressed over her mouth and nose. Annie felt herself losing consciousness but was determined to take at least one man down with her. Annie willed her finger to squeeze the trigger but the gun felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds. The gun fell to the floor with a clatter, and one of the men threw her over his shoulder.

Arya heard a noise from the next room. She leapt silently to her feet and opened her door just a crack. The benefit to being a genetically enhanced freak was that she could see in the dark. She saw four masked men, one of which was carrying Annie. Arya followed them stealthily and stepped over the bodies of several slain guards. The men headed out the back to a waiting black van. The security guards in the checkpoint outside were dead as well. Arya was torn. She could go after Annie and try to save her, or she could use this opportunity to run away. The CIA would assume she had been kidnapped too, so Arya would be free to go wherever she wanted. She quickly dismissed this option. The truth would get out, and then the CIA would dig into her past.

The van had been left running and took off while Arya was still deliberating. She quickly memorized the license plate; it was the least she could do since she had choked instead of helping Annie. Arya was a trained, skillful assassin. There was no reason for her to have allowed the men to take Annie, but she was forced to admit to herself that she was afraid. She was afraid that she might have lost against the men and that she would have been taken to Carlos as well. The strength of the hold that Carlos had over Arya had not diminished since she had run away. Arya felt a single tear roll down her cheek but immediately stopped crying; tears were a luxury she could not afford. Her resolve hardened into an iron bar of conviction. No one should be subjected to what Arya went through with Carlos, especially not Annie who had been so kind. Arya vowed to do whatever it took to get Annie back.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: A huge thank you to all of my wonderful readers for keeping up with the story. You guys would be extra wonderful if you could write some reviews!

Chapter 7

The Wrong Girl

Annie awoke in darkness. She realized that there was a hood over her face and could not make anything out past the fabric. Annie lay perfectly still, trying to determine where she was. Her stomach lurched as if she was on a roller coaster, telling Annie that she was in an airplane. Annie tried not to panic, but the CIA gave no training as to what to do when you got kidnapped because your captors thought you were someone else. One of the men must have seen that she was awake, for a blow to her head sent Annie back into the realm of unconsciousness.

The bright light was hurting her eyes and worsening the pain in her head. Annie wished the mask was back on her face to shield her eyes. She moaned and tried to go back to sleep, but she was dragged out of a car by her captors. The men led Annie across a large, well-tended lawn. They ascended several steps to an imposing set of double doors. A butler opened the doors and led Annie and her kidnappers down a long hallway until they reached a tastefully furnished study. A handsome man with Latin features was seated behind a mahogany desk. Carlos. His skin was tanned and his dark curls were a little bit too long to fit with the crisp, professional air of his expensive suit.

Carlos stood up, his deep brown eyes blazing with such fury that Annie was chilled to her core. At a snap of his fingers, Carlos's men came into the room each holding a gun pointed at Annie's captors. "How could you have been so incompetent?" Carlos hissed. "How could you have brought me the wrong girl?" To his men he said calmly, "Take them to the basement. I will be down shortly."

Everything that Annie had learned about Carlos was coming back. Carlos's father had virtually run the Columbian drug trade. When Carlos was an adult he took over the family business and moved the operation to France. Little was known about Carlos except that he was good at what he did and did not let anything stand in his way.

Annie watched silently as her captors were being led away. "Have a seat." commanded Carlos in unaccented English. Annie sat on the plush, leather couch. "Now tell me," began Carlos, "why is it that you are here instead of Arya?"

Annie did not respond. Carlos leaned forward. "One way or another, you _will_ tell me everything I want to know." he said, his voice dangerously soft. "You get to choose whether or not you emerge intact. I have those imbeciles to deal with, so I will give you some time to formulate your response. When I return, I hope for your sake that you choose correctly." With his parting words ringing ominously in Annie's ears, Carlos motioned to a man waiting outside the door and walked away.

The man walked over to Annie and took a seat next to her on the couch. "I am Manuel." he said with a Columbian accent. "I have been with Carlos for many years, and I want you to know that he is a reasonable man. If you tell him what he wants to know, he will let you go unharmed. But if you do not cooperate…" Manuel paused. "Just do what he says."

"What sort of 'reasonable man' goes around kidnapping people?" asked Annie scathingly.

"When it comes to Arya, Carlos will do anything. I suppose she is the exception to the rule. Tell me, how is she?"

"Why do you care?" replied Annie, her voice full of contempt. "You kept her here for that monster."

"Listen," said Manuel firmly. "I don't like what Don Carlos did to her any more than you do, but all of us here who work for Carlos owe him our lives. We could not betray him. The other men here just see Arya as a piece of property, but not me. She is my friend and I do care about her. While Arya was here, I tried to do what I could to help."

Annie could see that Manuel was telling her the truth. "She was in bad shape when we found her." admitted Annie. "I think she has been making progress, but her life will never be normal again." Miguel's eyes were full of guilt. He was Annie's best chance of escape. She would not be able to do flee on her own. Annie would need someone familiar with Carlos, his house, and the area if she would have any hope of laying low long enough to contact the agency. Manuel was young and Annie could tell that he did not want to live a life of crime, but he was loyal to Carlos. If Annie could convince him to help her, she just might have a shot of getting out alive.

"Where am I?" asked Annie.

"You are in Paris." he replied. "But I cannot tell you anything more. I really should not be talking to you in the first place."

Manuel led Annie to the kitchen and gave her some food. Annie tried to control herself and not wolf it down, but she was starving. Annie and Manuel sat at the table in silence for over an hour. Manuel did not say anything, and Annie knew that progress would be slow; she didn't want to push him. Once the adrenaline started to wear off, Annie's thoughts turned towards her family. No doubt Joan had already concocted a lie to explain why Annie was away and why she had not called. Annie felt a pang of loss sear through her. She had to constantly lie to the ones she cared about the most. If she was killed here, her family would never even know the truth about why Annie was really in Paris.

Carlos entered the kitchen. He had changed his clothes, but Annie could see a few flecks of blood that he had neglected to wipe off after dealing with her kidnappers. This frightened Annie more than words or actions ever could. If she did not talk to Carlos, all that would remain of her would be a few spatters of blood on the skin of a monster. "So," he began. "Have you decided to talk?"

Annie nodded.

"Good girl." he said approvingly. "Come to my office."

Carlos sat at his desk and motioned for Annie to sit in the high backed, wooden chair opposite him. "You are CIA, yes?" He did not wait for her confirmation.

Carlos began to think out loud. "So my source was fed false information. I can assume that your agency had thought of the possibility that I might come for Arya and end up with you instead. For all I know, the CIA are on their way right now. The men I hired checked you for bugs and found nothing, but we both know there are ways to plant trackers that are not visible to the eye. I am going to have to do a more extensive search for bugs or trackers. Come with me."

Annie could see from the way that Carlos carried himself that he was in excellent shape and could handle himself in a fight. Even if she could take him out, she would not be able to evade all of the guards posted around the house. Carlos brought Annie down a flight of stairs to the basement. He opened the door to one of the rooms and gestured for Annie to enter. Without warning, everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Bait

Arya took off for Auggie's house at a run. She did not know where else to go, for she had no way of contacting anyone at the Agency. Fortunately, Arya had remembered the way to Auggie's house. Although she had driven from Auggie's house back to the Agency, she could visualize the route in reverse thanks to her training.

Running felt good. While she ran, Arya could allow herself to melt away into a blur of pumping limbs. All of the thoughts and troubles that plagued her now belonged to someone else. The only thing that mattered was to keep moving. No one could catch her; she was invincible. Arya had always run obsessively. It was the one thing that could make her forget, at least for a little while. Some people escaped through sleep, but Arya was tormented by nightmares. Others chose drugs, but Arya could never bring herself to lose control that way.

Control. Control was her mantra, her motto, her everything. Arya had survived because she was always in control. She did not trust anyone and she had kept her feelings to herself… until she met Carlos. Arya thought that she had run far enough, that in France she would be safe from her past and that she could start over. Arya had hoped to finally be able to have a relationship, a real relationship, not just part of a cover.

Carlos had seemed so perfect. He was exactly her type: tall, dark, and handsome. He was flirtatious and fun; spontaneous and sexy. He was romantic without being too clingy. Carlos was athletic, and they would run together on the beach as the sun rose, painting the waves with brilliant colors. Carlos also shared Arya's passion for music and dance. They spent many nights on the dance floor doing the salsa to their hearts' content.

Then Carlos showed his true colors. He was a monster, a sadist. He enjoyed her pain and her fear as much as he enjoyed her body. He needed to dominate her physically and mentally. The only way Carlos was capable of having sex was to have his partner in restraints. But she wasn't his partner; she was his toy, his plaything. Arya had experienced a total loss of control unlike anything she had ever felt. Carlos controlled her body and terrorized her thoughts. Arya's own mind had betrayed her by allowing her to fall for him in the first place.

Arya stopped her inner monologue before it could bring her to a worse place. She knew that working things out in her own head was good for her, but she was not prepared to deal with Carlos this night because she would be seeing him very soon. Running had always been her sacred time to forget, and Arya would not ruin it with her painful memories.

After pausing a moment to catch her breath, Arya rang Auggie's doorbell.

"Who is it?" called Auggie, his voice bleary with sleep.

"It's Arya." she said quickly. "Open the door. It's an emergency."

Auggie opened the door wearing only a pair of sweatpants. "What's going on?" he asked nervously.

"Annie's been kidnapped." she cried. "It's all my fault."

"What?" said Auggie in disbelief. It took him a moment to process the situation.

"Let's call Joan." said Auggie finally, trying to remain calm. He dialed Joan's emergency phone.

Joan woke with a start to the ringing of her phone. Her stomach dropped. This could only mean bad news. "What happened?" she said tersely.

"They took Annie." said Auggie. "Arya just showed up at my door. I guess she saw it happen."

"Put her on the phone." ordered Joan.

Auggie handed Arya the phone and went to get dressed.

"Tell me everything from the beginning." Joan instructed, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"I heard a noise in the middle of the night. I opened my door and saw Annie being dragged away by men with guns. I followed them. They killed everyone in the building. The men took Annie to a van and drove away. I got the license plate, but the car was probably stolen. It's my fault Annie's gone. They were looking for me." Arya's short, factual account of the kidnapping was full of guilt.

"We will get her back." said Joan firmly. "Let me talk to Auggie."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Auggie, uncharacteristically serious.

"Our headquarters have been compromised." said Joan. "Those men could have stolen classified material or planted bugs. I will have a team survey the damage. We need to meet in a secure location to discuss our next plan of action. Be at the Virginia safe house in an hour."

Auggie and Arya stepped out of a taxi in the wee hours of the morning. "For security purposes we couldn't get dropped off right at the safe house, so we're going to have to walk a few blocks."

"I don't mind." said Arya wistfully. "The city looks so beautiful at sunrise."

Something about her tone did not sit right with Auggie. Arya sounded as if she was saying goodbye.

Joan and other personnel from the Domestic Protection Division were waiting in a sparsely furnished apartment.

"We don't have the best relationship with the French," Joan was saying, "but we did get them to put Carlos's house under surveillance."

"Don't bother." said Arya, "Carlos knows that his location has been compromised. He's long gone from that house. He probably moved shortly after I left. Wherever he is living now will have been bought under someone else's name. If the French don't know where Carlos is, there is no way you will be able to find him on your own."

"We're not alone." said Joan with a small smile. "We have Abdul al Bakiri. If he is a regular buyer from Carlos, he will probably know where Carlos is. He just flew in to prepare for the opening of his hotel, and our agents have been sent to pick him up from the airport as we speak. We have no grounds to hold him, and if he lawyers up we may need to resort to more desperate measures."

"What does she mean?" whispered Arya to Auggie.

"We're going to arrest him at the airport," Auggie whispered back, "and if he doesn't talk fast we'll plant some drugs in his luggage and then hold him for drug possession. Others at the CIA do this sort of thing all the time, but Joan doesn't like to play dirty unless she has to."

Joan's phone rang. "Well…" she said sharply. "Good." She hung up.

"That was my team at headquarters. They just swept for bugs, and we're clean. Killing all of the guards was an intimidation tactic to make us feel threatened, but Carlos did not plant or take anything. We won't let Carlos get to us, we will get Annie back, and we will put the Jackal behind bars for the rest of his life."

The tech team was doing a second sweep of the CIA just to be sure that nothing was stolen or bugged, so Bakiri was brought to the safe-house. He was an olive toned, overweight man in an expensive suit. His face was red with anger. "How dare you arrest me!" he shouted. "I have done nothing!"

"Let me talk to him." said Arya. "Give me twenty minutes alone with him, and I will have the truth."

"I don't know if that's such a smart idea." said Auggie apprehensively.

It took Arya a minute to realize what Auggie was saying. He was afraid _of_ her, not for her. "I'm not going to hurt him." she said. "I swear I won't lay a finger on him."

"Fine." sighed Auggie. "I'll talk to Joan."

After a few minutes of arguing, Arya was brought to the bedroom where Bakiri was being held.

"Let me talk to him alone." instructed Arya to the agent who had been watching Bakiri. "Joan OK'd it."

The man left, but Arya knew that everyone would be listening by the door.

Arya stood over Bakiri who was seated on the bed with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"I also spent a lot of time in a bed with handcuffs on." she said in Arabic. "I'm looking for the man that put me there."

"I don't know what you are talking about." said Bakiri. But his eyes said otherwise.

"You know who I am, and you know where Carlos is."

Arya saw the door open a crack. She didn't want to be overheard in case anyone spoke Arabic. She leaned in close to Bakiri and whispered in his ear. They were as close as lovers, but her words were anything but loving.

"You are going to tell me where I can find Carlos. If you don't, once the Agency lets you go, I will hunt you down like the animal that you are. You know what goes on in Carlos's basement, don't you?"

Bakiri nodded.

"Anything he does down there will seem like a pinprick compared to the things I'll do to you." She described in great detail how she would torture him. Bakiri's face paled with fear and he began to sweat. Arya continued to whisper menacingly in Bakiri's ear until he reluctantly muttered an address. Arya then gave him specific instructions followed by more threats.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" said Arya sweetly. She turned around and left the room.

The agents did not know what exactly took place in front of them, but at least Arya had some information.

"Bakiri doesn't know the exact address," said Arya, "but he gave me the name of a gated community in Paris where Carlos is living. It's pretty small, but the house should not be too hard to find."

"Excellent." said Joan. "We can send an undercover team to scope out the area as prospective home buyers, and they can determine which house belongs to Carlos."

"It won't be that simple." said Arya solemnly. "Carlos is no amateur. If he suspects anything, he won't hesitate to kill Annie."

"We aren't amateurs either." said Joan gently. "Our agents are well trained."

"I know," argued Arya, "but it's still too risky. Let me go. Let me be the bait. Once Carlos comes after me, we can set up an exchange. I can convince him to trade Annie for me. I escaped once. I'll be able to do it again."

"You would be willing to trade your freedom for Annie's life?" asked Joan.

"It's my fault that Carlos has Annie in the first place. This is the only way that Annie will come out alive. Carlos will never hurt her if knows that he will get me back."

Joan knew that Arya was right. A trade was the only way to get Annie home safely. But Joan would be damned if she would let Carlos have Arya.

"I want you wired, bugged, you name it. We'll trade you, but as soon as we get Annie you are coming right back where you belong and Carlos will be locked up for the rest of his miserable life."

Arya nodded. She would do it for Annie. So many lives had been ended on her account, and Arya would go crazy if she had to add Annie's name to the list. She remembered every face she had ever killed. Part of the reason why she only slept when it was absolutely necessary was to avoid the accusing eyes that haunted her nightmares.

Arya could feel herself falling apart at the seams. Between Carlos and her past there was more pain than she could bear. Her carefully crafted façade was coming ever closer to shattering. Arya could feel herself inching towards the dark abyss of madness, and she shuddered to think of what might happen if she snapped.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Call

Joan turned to Arya, her expression unreadable. The two women stood in the kitchen of the safe-house while Joan's teams were preparing to exchange Arya for Annie.

"What really happened when you went to talk to Bakiri? Why were you whispering?" Her voice grew sterner. "I want the truth."

Arya looked away guiltily. "The truth is . . . that I bribed Bakiri to tell me where Carlos was living. I know Bakiri; he's greedy. I knew that he would tell me what he knew if I promised to have Carlos send him free shipments of drug, weapons, or whatever else he wants. I didn't want you to hear me bribing a criminal, which is why I whispered. I took Arabic in high school, and I figured he would be more responsive if I spoke in his native language."

"It's alright." said Joan gently. "We understand. And we appreciate everything you are doing to help get Annie back. If at any time you change your mind, no one will blame you."

"I'm coming." Arya said determinedly.

Arya had anticipated that Joan would question her. However, Arya could not reveal that she had found out Carlos's full address. If the CIA knew exactly where Carlos was living, then they would raid the house to try to get Annie back. Arya did not trust the CIA to do the job properly. She threatened Bakiri to make sure that he would tell the CIA only the neighborhood in which Carlos was living and nothing more.

Now, the CIA would have no choice but to send Arya to France, and she would make sure to get the job done properly. This was the only way for Annie to come home safely.

Once again Annie woke up with a crippling headache. She tried to get up, but her hands were shacked to the chair that she was sitting on. Annie was seated at a square, gray table much like the ones found in police interrogation rooms. This room was bare except for the table and two chairs. The floor was concrete. Light shone from a single hanging bulb, illuminating the room in its harsh light.

"I am glad to see that you are awake." said Carlos, entering the room. "I drugged you with truth serum. I am sorry that I had to knock you out, but there are ways to lie under the drug if one has time to prepare. This way you would not know that it was coming. Now that I am sure you are not leading your agency to my front door, I want your boss's phone number."

"What for?" asked Annie wearily.

"I am going to propose a trade. Your agency has no incriminating information on me. You have no leverage, nothing of value to me, except for Arya. I want her back. Now tell me the number. You had better hope for your sake that the CIA makes the trade."

As Joan, Auggie, and Arya drove back to the newly secured CIA headquarters, Joan's phone rang.

"Yes." she said.

"This is Carlos." said the voice on the other side of the call. "I have your agent and I want my girl. Be at 13 Quai Francois-Mauriac at ten o'clock tonight with Arya or I will find out everything your agent knows and sell the information to the highest bidder."

The line went dead.

"God damn that son of a bitch!" hissed Joan.

"What just happened?" asked Auggie with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Carlos wants to trade Annie for Arya." she said flatly.

"Do it." said Arya. "Make the trade."

A few hours later, Annie and Jai were sitting at the airport awaiting the flight that would take them to France. Annie and Jai were to fly together, and two teams consisting of six men each would be right behind them.

Joan knew that Carlos expected her to send back up, and her agents were going to have to do the best they could under such short notice. The CIA men were going to make sure that the trade went smoothly and then rescue Arya from Carlos. One team would secure the rendezvous point, and the other would surround the building and tail Carlos back to his house. Arya was also bugged, giving the CIA teams a greater chance of tracking her in order to get her back.

Joan knew that Carlos was a professional, and that he would be expecting everything the CIA had coming. The one trick the Agency had up its sleeve was that Carlos did not know that the CIA knew which neighborhood he lived in. Realistically, Joan expected to fail to track Arya back to Carlos's house, but she was fairly confident that her teams would be able to figure out which house belonged to Carlos once they scanned the neighborhood.

She had two of her men preparing to be a gay couple looking for a house in the community. On their tour of the neighborhood, the men would observe the area and try to determine the house in which Arya was being held. After staking out the house and confirming Arya's location, the teams would raid the house and save Arya. The plan looked good on paper, but the next few hours would tell whether or not they would actually succeed.

Jai watched Arya as they sat on the plane. Her head rested against the window and she did not touch the dinner that was served. Her fingers drummed idly on the armrest while her stomach twisted itself into knots. Neither Jai nor Arya knew what to say, so they were silent.

After the first hour of the flight, Arya uncharacteristically dozed off. She opened her eyes and Carlos was standing over her. She was huddled in the corner of one of his interrogation rooms. The room began to spin. Arya felt faint after not being fed for days. Carlos was trying to weaken her so that she would not have the energy to fight back.

Carlos pulled Arya to her feet. She wore only the thin, cotton nightgown that he had given her. With a moan of desperation, Carlos kissed Arya deeply and pulled the white fabric up her thighs. His lips trailed down her jaw to the hollow at the base of her throat. Carlos inhaled her rich, feminine scent while his hands roamed over her body. His hands grew rougher and his kisses harsher.

Carlos ripped away the cloth that was keeping him from her. As his lips moved lower to her breasts, Arya let out a whimper of fear.

Jai watched Arya fidgeting in her seat. She began to mutter in French, but Jai could not make out what she was saying. He wanted to wake her up from what was clearly a bad dream. "Wake up." he said gently, touching her arm.

Her eyes opened, wide with fear. She tried to scream, and Jai felt his heart breaking as he placed his hand over Arya's mouth, muffling the sound. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. We just need to keep a low profile."

He removed his hand and Arya took several deep breaths. "I'm fine." she said resolutely.

Jai was wracked with guilt. He was the one who was going to deliver Arya to the man who had terrorized her in the first place


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Betrayal

Arya and Jai landed in France with little time to spare. They rented a car under a false name and began to drive to the rendezvous point. While they were on the plane, Auggie had researched the building and found out that it was a library with a recently installed metal detector. Everyone at the Domestic Protection Division was trying their hardest to keep it together for Annie's sake. Despite their worry and their fear, Annie's friends and coworkers knew that her safety depended on them remaining level-headed.

Part of the reason why Joan had decided to trust Carlos and to make the trade was that Carlos had shown that he was willing to play fair. Neither side would be able to bring weapons into the library because of the metal detector.

There was no way to get into the building and bypass the detector because it was heavily secured after a recent suicide bomb attempt took place in the library. Both sides were sure to have gunmen at the ready once they left the building, so Carlos and the DPD would each be able to leave the location without incident.

Joan wanted Carlos to think that she would be willing to trade Arya for Annie. Joan hoped she had convinced Carlos that she cared more about ensuring national security than she cared about Arya. If Carlos believed that Joan's top priority was to stop him from selling national secrets, then he wouldn't expect her to attempt to rescue Arya.

Only essential personnel had been allowed in the safe house where the whole plan was constructed. The only people privy to the trade that was about to take place had already passed a lie detector test ensuring that they were not the mole.

While her teams in France were trading Arya for Annie, Joan was preparing to leak false information to try to flush out the mole. Joan did not take betrayal lightly, and whoever was selling out the CIA was going to suffer.

The teams from the Domestic Protection Division arrived in France shortly after Arya and Jai did. Jai and Arya reached the library and parked a block away. They waited in the rental car and watched as the CIA men drove by and inconspicuously set themselves up around the perimeter of the library.

The second DPD team entered the library and scanned it for Carlos's men. The team broke off into four pairs with one more man acting as the team leader. Each pair was given a code name as was the leader. The leader contacted Jai and informed him that the library was clear of Carlos's men. The people inside all appeared to be civilians. Carlos was waiting for them on the second floor.

Jai and Arya then exited the car and walked towards the entrance. Arya's hands were shaking as they walked up the stairs, but she insisted that she was fine. They reached the second floor and saw Carlos standing in the corner of the empty room. Carlos pulled Annie out from behind one of the bookshelves and beckoned to Arya. "Send out Annie first." said Jai.

"On three have Arya come towards me, and I'll have Annie walk to you." countered Carlos. "One, two . . . three."

Annie and Arya slowly walked to opposite sides of the room. Jai caught Annie in his arms and hugged her tightly. "You're safe now." he assured her. She looked tired but no worse for wear.

Carlos grabbed Arya and kissed her passionately. "I've missed you, _mi querida_." he murmured.

Jai felt his blood boiling with anger as he glared at Carlos. "You won't get away with this." he growled.

"I already have." smirked Carlos.

Several security guards bust into the room, guns blazing. One of them ran towards Jai and leveled his handgun. "Don't move." he shouted in French. Another guard pulled Annie away from Jai, picked her up, and ran out.

Suddenly Jai understood: these men weren't really the library's security guards, they were working for Carlos.

At the same time, the members of the DPD team that were securing the library were ambushed by Carlos's men. The library was relatively empty, making the team easier to spot even though they were dressed like civilians.

The other team that had been waiting outside had been in contact with the first team and with Arya and Jai. Even when things started going wrong they remained at their posts. Joan had given them express orders not to interfere with the proceedings inside the library. This team had to focus on their own assignment.

Joan had only sent two teams to not be conspicuous, but her lack of manpower had its disadvantages. Each team member had to do his job, regardless of what was happening to his companions.

The second team was to follow Carlos and confirm that Waleed had given them good intel regarding his location. Although they wanted to help their teammates in the library, the DPD group followed their orders.

The "security guard" cracked Jai across the face with his gun, and Jai hit the ground hard. Once he was sure that Jai was out cold, the guard followed Carlos and Arya out of the room.

Security at the library had recently tightened, so the only conventional way in and out of the library was the front door. However, no one had thought to secure the windows on the second floor.

The bathroom window had been left ajar, and a rope was secured to the sink. After tying Annie's and Arya's hands behind their backs, Carlos nimbly climbed out of the window and down the rope. Carlos's men followed next with Annie and Arya.

They quickly walked to the cars that had been parked behind the building. One man sat with Annie and Arya in the back seat while Carlos took the wheel. The remaining men entered the second car, and the two vehicles drove away.

The CIA pair assigned to monitor the back of the library radioed in. "This is Delta to Control. The subjects have been spotted leaving the building in two blue Honda Accords. License plates J46672 and RP703L."

"Delta this is Control." came the response from the team leader. "You are to pursue the subjects with caution. Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie will head in your direction and you four pairs will alternate tailing the vehicles. Repeat. Pursue with caution."

Joan had been nervously pacing Auggie's office as they waited for a response from France. For once, Auggie had no snappy retort for Joan. The two let the unspoken yet recognized tension fill the room.

After an eternity of waiting, the team leader Eric Johnson finally called Joan. "He has them both." said Johnson tersely. "The Jackal got the drop on us at the library and he took Annie and Arya with him. We are in pursuit."

If Auggie had seen the look of despair on Joan's face he would have understood the whole story, but Auggie had to wait anxiously as Joan finished the call.

"So," he said hopefully, "Is Annie coming come?"

Her silence was answer enough.

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the delay. School has been insane (but that's what I get for taking too many

classes!) Your feedback is really important to me so please submit reviews!

Also, if anything about the storyline is not clear, let me know.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: I know that you have all been missing Annie, but you will see more of her in this chapter.

Chapter 11

Helpless

Auggie slammed his fist into his desk. "I can't help Annie." he cried, his voice full of anguish. "I can't do anything to save her. I'm just a blind guy stuck at my desk. I want to be in France where I can make a difference!"

Joan placed her hands on Auggie's shoulders. "Listen to me Auggie." she commanded. "Do not give up on me now. Just because you are not in France, does not mean that you can't help Annie. She needs you right now. We all need you. Can you pull yourself together?"

Auggie let out a long sigh.

"Yes." he said finally. "I can do it."

"That's the answer I wanted to hear." said Joan with a small smile. "Let's get to work."

The four pairs of men from the DPD switched off tailing Carlos; taking all of the necessary precautions so as not to be spotted. The pairs kept in contact with each other and with their leader via radio. All was going well until Carlos's two cars started driving in opposite directions.

Carlos headed toward a set of train tracks as a freight train was approaching. He accelerated hard and barely made it over the tracks before the train came. The Alpha and Gamma teams were stuck waiting for the train to pass.

The freight train had dozens of cars, so Carlos's car had long disappeared by the time the tracks were cleared. The Alpha and Gamma teams reported their failure and went to help their companions trail Carlos's second vehicle.

The second car pulled into a used car dealership. The DPD team sat at various points outside the dealership for ten minutes. One pair of men went inside to see what was going on, and they found that Carlos's men were gone. They had gotten another car and left.

While the second DPD team notified Joan of their defeat, the first team sat around their team leader. They carefully studied the piece of paper that Arya had written out for them before she left. They had been ambushed in the library, but the team would not make any more mistakes. They could not afford another failure.

Arya had explained that Carlos was too paranoid to stay in one place for too long, so he moved around about once a year. He wanted to stay near Paris where his business was based, so Carlos devised a clever scheme.

He paid friends of his from outside of France to buy houses in Paris that were all designed exactly the way Carlos requested. The houses were all bought at different times under the names of Carlos's friends so that nothing could be traced back to Carlos.

The people who had officially bought the houses claimed to buy them as vacation homes and visited occasionally to keep up the charade. Carlos himself would switch off living in the houses, but the move was easy because the houses were all identically furnished. The only things for Carlos to move were any files about his illegal business ventures that had been stashed away.

Arya's description of the house would make it easier to identify once the team entered the neighborhood. The appointment with the real estate agent would begin shortly. The appointment was necessary so that the agent could discuss the features of the house they were looking for that were not visible from the outside.

Annie and Arya were placed next to each other in the back or Carlos's car. The Jackal drove while Manuel sat with Annie and Arya in the back seat. Both women's hands were tied, but they leaned in close for support.

"Are you OK?" whispered Arya as she rested her head on Annie's shoulder. "Did he hurt you?"

"He knocked me out a few times and gave me some truth serum." admitted Annie. "But I'm alright now. I'm just tired."

"I am so sorry." Arya said softly. "You wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for me. This is all my fault."

"We're going to get through this." assured Annie.

"How touching." mocked Carlos. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. Let's see how well you get through tonight _mi amour_."

Carlos chuckled and Arya's heart began to pound.

Annie wanted so desperately to be able to comfort Arya, but Annie knew that there was nothing she could say. Manuel winced at Carlos's words, but he too could do nothing.

Carlos pulled out his phone and began speaking in rapid French. "Good news." he smirked. "The other car has also successfully evaded its CIA tail. Your friends will never find you now."

They stopped at a gate, and a security guard opened the gate to let them into the neighborhood. Carlos's house was surrounded by extensive ground that isolated him from the rest of the community. Annie and Arya were led into the house. Annie was returned to her basement prison while Carlos took Arya upstairs.

As Carlos shut the bedroom door behind them, Arya paused.

Carlos looked at her questioningly.

"I need the antidote." she said bitterly. "I only have a few days before the poison takes effect."

Arya knew what would come next. Carlos smiled.

"Móstrame que vas a hacer para el antídoto." (Show me what you will do for the antidote.)

he whispered, his breath hot against her ear.

There would be time for soft caresses and lingering kisses, but now Carlos was too desperate to waste any time. Arya had been away from him for far too long, and he needed her urgently.

"Before you try to fight me, just remember that I have your friend downstairs. I have no use for her other than to sell the information that she knows for a few dollars. If need be I will have her disposed of in an instant, so cooperate darling."

For Annie sake, Arya would go along with Carlos, but the bastard was going to pay dearly for the pain and suffering that he caused. Carlos tore off both of their clothes and kissed her hungrily.

As he groaned with lust, Arya felt her mind drift away from her surroundings. The technique was used by many to resist torture, and now was no exception. Arya could make herself unaware of the pain being inflicted on her body, at least temporarily. But she would always have to return to the present.

Author's Note: Anything not in English will always be translated in parenthesis. Reviews are

really appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Trapped

Carlos watched Arya's eyes grow vacant. She stopped struggling against him and lay motionless on the bed. When he was finished with her, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

She returned to her surroundings but would not look at him. Carlos bathed her and dressed her in a lavender nightgown. He gently placed Arya in the bed under the covers, and Carlos lay down beside her. "It's good to have you back _mi amour_." he murmured.

Carlos fell asleep with his arm possessively over Arya. She struggled not to cry, but she felt as though she was suffocating. Carlos moved so that he was practically on top of her, and Arya could not breathe. Arya was trapped beneath him and it seemed like she would never be able to get away. e H

As dawn was approaching, Arya fell asleep. Carlos woke up feeling the warmth of her body beside him, right where she should be. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that Arya was the only one for him.

With her lustrous, dark hair strewn across the pillow, Arya was the most beautiful woman Carlos had ever seen. He liked to watch her sleep because her usually guarded face was relaxed and peaceful. She rubbed her cheek into the soft pillow; a habit which Carlos found endearing, almost childlike. He wondered what she dreamed about, but then her brow furrowed and she began to cry. Now he knew for certain that she dreamed of him.

Arya rubbed her eyes as she woke up and realized that they were wet with tears. She turned away from Carlos as he kissed her good morning. Carlos went into the shower, and Arya slipped out of the room.

She ran down the stairs as quickly as her sore muscles could take her and finally reached the basement. Arya saw Miguel standing outside one of the doors holding a tray of food. He started towards her but stopped himself.

"Lo siento." he said, his voice full of guilt. "¿Qué puedo hacer para ayudarte?"

(I'm sorry. What can I do to help you?)

"Nadie se puede ayudarme." (Nobody can help me.) Arya said bitterly. "Just open the door."

Arya needed to make Miguel feel even guiltier than he already did so that he would help her.

Miguel unlocked the door. He handed Arya the tray of food and shut the door behind her. Annie was seated at a table with her hands cuffed in front of her.

"We don't have a lot of time." she said quickly, placing the food on the table. "Carlos will be down any minute now, but I want you to know that help is on the way. The CIA is tracking us. We found out the neighborhood that Carlos is living in from a friend of his, and I gave them a description of what the house should look like based on the other houses of his that I lived in. Hopefully it will be enough for them to find us."

"Arya," said Annie slowly. "We can't wait to be rescued. We need to get out of here now. Once Carlos drugs me and finds out the classified information I know, he won't need me anymore. I have been talking to Manuel, and I think that I can get him to help us escape. We need to leave as soon as possible, or Carlos is going to kill me."

Annie did not want to scare Arya, but Arya had to understand the situation. Annie was going to need Arya to be brave for them to both make it out alive.

"If we run away now, the instant that Carlos finds out that we are gone he will burn any incriminating information about his business. He will disappear and restart his empire somewhere else. We can't let that happen. We need to wait for the CIA to come, so that Carlos won't be prepared. Then, he will be caught red handed with records of his drug and weapons purchases. This is the only way that Carlos will go to jail."

Arya deliberately used the word "we" to make Annie feel a sense of companionship. As much as Arya wanted to protect Annie, Arya needed to persuade her to stay for a few more days in order to bring down Carlos's criminal empire.

"I swear that I won't let Carlos hurt you." said Arya resolutely. "He is always open to negotiation, and if I agree to do . . . certain things then he will hold up his end of the deal. I promise that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe until the DPD finds us."

Arya meant every word. She would be willing to sacrifice her body and her dignity for Annie's safety because Arya was the one putting Annie in further danger by persuading her to stay longer.

"You shouldn't have to do anything like that for me." said Annie softly. "I don't want this to be any worse for you than it already is. I am so sorry for everything that he is doing to you, and I want him to pay."

"Make him pay. Give the CIA two days." pleaded Arya. "If the DPD doesn't come in two days than we run."

"Two days." sighed Annie. She could last for two more days if it meant that Arya would be given some closure once Carlos was caught for good.

"I thought I would find you here." said Carlos, opening the door. "Say your goodbyes now. There isn't anything you can do to save your friend."

Arya knew Carlos well enough to know where he was heading.

"What do you want?" asked Arya wearily.

Carlos smiled wolfishly. He slowly strode towards Arya and pulled her to him. His dark, brown eyes met her gray-green ones. "I want you to stay with me, keep eye contact the entire time instead of you drifting off where you can't feel me."

Carlos pressed his lips to the hollow at the base of Arya's throat as he inhaled her intoxicating scent. "I want to hear you say my name." he breathed, his voice husky with desire. "I want to have you forever."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Discoveries

Thomas Gage and Anthony Markus rolled their eyes at the snobby, French real estate agent. "Zere ave been many of your kind looking for ouses ere recently." she continued. The neighborhood was well known for being tolerant to gays. The real estate agent clearly was not. But mixed in with her snide comments were tidbits of information that would help identify Carlos's house.

The DPD was trusting that Arya knew Carlos well enough to predict what his house would look like based off of his previous houses. They had memorized the list of information that she had given them. At the end of the afternoon, the agents had narrowed their search down to four houses. Now it was time for a stakeout.

Carrie Winters knocked on the door to Joan's office and informed her of the progress of the teams in France. Carrie was the communications expert, so she kept in touch with everyone and made sure that they were all informed as to what was going on. Joan was grateful for Carrie's efficiency and liked having another woman in the mostly male DPD.

Joan needed to know that someone was on top of everything because she had a mole to catch in addition to running a successful rescue operation. The mole was clearly from the DPD because he had known to alert Carlos about where Arya was staying. In all likelihood, the mole was not working for Carlos but had simply tipped him off in order to make some money.

Normally Joan detested jurisdictional pissing contests, but she used all of the red tape at her disposal to ensure that her department would be running the operation with no interference. That would keep any operational details or false information that Joan was going to spread within the DPD. The more contained the situation was, the better.

Joan found Carrie sipping a cup of coffee at her desk. "Carrie," said Joan excitedly, "I think we found the house! I just got off the phone with my stakeout team, and they are almost positive they found Carlos's house. I want you to give everyone the address right away and see if they can help in any way to confirm that we have the right house."

Carrie beamed with joy. "I can't wait to see Annie and Arya home safely." she said and ran off to tell the rest of the staff the good news.

The only person who knew about Joan's plan to expose the mole was Auggie. There was no phone call from France, and the CIA team had not positively identified the house yet. Auggie had helped Joan put out a search for any local computers researching Carlos's address along with a phone number.

Joan suspected that the mole might try to warn Carlos before the team stormed the house. If the mole would make a move, Joan would be ready. She did not take betrayal lightly.

"Joan," began Auggie tentatively, "you might want to see this. We got a hit."

"Who?" asked Joan, her voice full of dread.

"Carrie." said Auggie quietly. "She just found the number and dialed it from her cell phone. Do you want me to monitor the call?"

"No. I'll deal with her."

Joan could not contain her anger and disbelief.

"How could she?" cried Joan.

Carrie, the one Joan always though she could count on, had deceived Joan and caused the death of multiple CIA guards. All of the pain and destruction that ensued from the night that Annie was taken was Carrie's fault. Joan did not expect to feel so hurt. She had been so angry at the mole that she had not taken into account that the snitch was a member of her team.

Joan furiously marched over to Jai's desk and told him what Carrie had done. The two of them cornered Carrie in the hallway with her phone in her hand.

"How could you have sold us out?" growled Joan, snatching and closing the phone. "Don't bother denying it. We've caught you red handed."

"You don't know what it's like being a single mom to a boy with leukemia." said Carrie, ashamed. "I can't afford treatment for Christopher. I had no other options. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, I just needed the money. Now who is going to take care of my son?"

Jai led Carrie away. "I didn't have a choice!" she cried, tears pouring down her face. "I didn't have a choice."

Arya busied herself in cooking the mushroom ravioli as Carlos poured two glasses of wine. Now that she was back he had insisted that she make dinner as she used to. Arya was grateful for something to do that would get her out of the bedroom.

Carlos sipped the red wine and placed Arya's glass on the counter. "I'm not even old enough to drink, you know." she said. "I'm only eighteen."

"Life's no fun if you always abide by the rules." replied Carlos.

Arya jumped as she heard the phone ring in Carlos's office down the hall. Her ears were keener than most, so she hoped that he didn't hear the telephone. None of Carlos's friends or contacts ever called the office phone: anyone who needed to speak to Carlos called his cell. The office number was unlisted, and the only person who ever called the number was the French chief of police if there was an emergency because Carlos had the chief on his payroll but did not trust him enough to give out his cell number. However, the chief of police was currently giving a press conference on the television screen in the next room, which meant that this caller had access to some kind of private database.

The caller must have been someone in the CIA. Arya had to distract Carlos before the phone rang again. Arya let the glass of wine slip from her fingers and land with a crash on the floor. The wine spilled across the wooden floor like a pool of blood.

Arya yelped as a shard of glass nicked her foot. "Stay there." ordered Carlos. "I'll go get some shoes on and get Manuel to clean this up."

"Fine." said Arya, relieved that the phone did not ring again.

She hoped that the CIA had the wherewithal not to call again because Carlos would get spooked, and there was no telling what Carlos would do if he were afraid. At least this phone call meant that the CIA had found the house. Arya prayed that the rescue team would come soon before her two days were up.

Author's Note: I hate to be a beggar, but I really would appreciate your reviews. Thanks to all of you for following my story!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Realizations

Eric Johnson, the leader of the first DPD team adjusted his earpiece. The two teams had split up into groups in order to stake out the four houses that fit the physical description of what Carlos's house should look like. Assuming Arya had given them the right information.

The teams were waiting in parked cars and under the cover of the foliage surrounding the properties. The nervous excitement of a stake out had begun to wear off as sunset turned to dusk.

Eric jumped as the side door of the house opened. A Hispanic looking man exited the house carrying a rag soaked with a red liquid. "Is that blood?" whispered Eric's partner Jack.

"We can't know for sure." Eric replied. "But this house does look suspicious."

"What do you mean?" questioned Jack. "There's been no activity all evening."

"Exactly." said Eric. "All the other houses have had people going in and out or cars pulling up. This house it too quiet like it has something to hide. Notice how all of the windows are shut and the curtains are drawn. I just have a gut feeling this is the house."

Eric spoke into the microphone clipped to his jacket. "This is control to all teams. Location 2 appears to be the house but the location has not been adequately confirmed. Meet back here at 0700 hours for a strike. Until then, continue to report any suspicious activity. Over."

Carlos knelt at Arya's feet as he used a tweezers to pull out the shards of glass lodged in her foot.

"Hold still _nena_ (baby), I'm almost done."

The cuts were shallow but bleeding heavily. Carlos wrapped Arya's foot in a bandage and pressed his lips to the smooth skin of her thigh. Arya stiffened in her chair. Carlos's lips continued to roam, and Arya let out a hiss of pain as he went over a bruise. His appetite had always been voracious, but Arya was not sure physically how much more she could take.

In the past, Carlos has always been careful to leave her alone during the day in order to preserve her sanity. He would take her out sometimes in the evenings after he returned from work and sign her up for dance and art classes during the day. One of the guards would drive Arya where ever she needed to go, and Carlos would make sure the tracker in her shoulder was still activated. Carlos knew that Arya needed to have something to look forward to, something to live for, otherwise she would retreat into herself and never emerge.

As though he had read her thoughts, Carlos paused with his hands up her dress. He rose from the floor and took his place at the head of the table. The mushroom ravioli in the oven was ready, and Carlos filled their plates. He ate heartily, but Arya merely pushed the food around on her plate.

"Debes comer. Llegarás a ser demasiado delgada si no comes nada." (You should eat. You're going to get too skinny if you don't eat anything.)

Arya said nothing.

"You won't be able to drink the antidote on an empty stomach." he coaxed.

She placed a piece of ravioli in her mouth and chewed slowly, struggling to keep it down.

"Good girl." he said approvingly.

After they finished eating, Carlos led Arya upstairs to a spare bedroom. She sat on the bed while he went into the walk-in closet; shutting the door behind him. Arya listened carefully as Carlos punched in the code to the closet safe, and she memorized the pitches of the numbers that he pressed. Some of the tricks she had learned in her training had their uses.

Carlos emerged from the closet with a small vial in his hand. He stroked her cheek and used his thumb to trace the curve of her mouth. He parted her lips with his finger and poured the antidote down her throat. Arya knew he was going to administer another dose of poison.

"Just give me one day." she pleaded. "Let me have one day without that poison inside of me."

"Anything for you." he murmured in French. "Now I hate to leave you, but I have some business to attend to."

Carlos called for Ramón, one of the guards. He was a short, stocky man with a mustache. Arya detested him the most out of all of the guards.

"I don't need a babysitter." groaned Arya in frustration.

"Watch her." ordered Carlos. "Don't let her out of your sight."

Annie stared listlessly at the same four walls that had been holding her since she was kidnapped. She was fed three times a day and given occasional bathroom breaks, but Annie spent the rest of the time cuffed to the table. She slept little and was worn out from waiting for the moment when Carlos was going to pump her for information and then kill her.

The waiting, not knowing, was the most unbearable form of torture; it was taking its toll on Annie. She spoke to Danielle, Auggie, Jai, and everyone she cared about in her head, telling them everything she wished she could say.

_Danielle, the reason why I always let you down is because I work for the CIA. I hope you can forgive me._

_Auggie, you have been so good so me. I know you want to be more than friends, but right now I just don't know how I feel._

_Jai, you are the man any girl would wish for. I'm sorry, but I don't know if it will ever be enough for me._

_Ben, . . . ._

The door opened, tearing Annie from her thoughts. Carlos strode nonchalantly into the room followed by a guard. The guard pulled his gun from his waistband and trained it on Annie. Carlos unlocked the handcuffs and escorted Annie out of the room and down the hall.

Theyreached another room with a dentist's chair in the center. Cabinets lined the walls, and there was a drain in the middle of the floor. The room appeared to be some kind of torture chamber. Annie's pulse quickened as Carlos pushed her onto the chair. The guard kept his gun on Annie until she was strapped into the chair.

"You may go." said Carlos to the guard, who promptly left.

Annie needed to stall. Psychos like to talk about themselves and their work. They like to brag. But Carlos was a professional, so Annie had to draw him out. If she was too obvious, then Carlos would simply get angry and kill her faster.

"Where's Arya?" asked Annie. "Is she alright?" 

"She's as fine as can be warranted in her situation." replied Carlos matter-of-factly.

"How can you talk about her like that?" spat Annie. "You're a sadistic bastard! How dare you use Arya like that and pretend that it's nothing!"

"Oh it's definitely not nothing." smirked Carlos. "The past twenty four hours have been quite . . . satisfying."

Carlos paused, remembering.

"I knew from the first time that I laid eyes on her that Arya was supposed to be mine. She is everything I look for in a woman. Physically, she is perfect: the right color hair, eyes, skin."

His voice mellowed and Annie could see that Carlos did care about Arya in his own twisted way.

"I signed her up for dance classes and I used to stop by the studio and watch her. She moves so beautifully, with such a natural grace. It was pleasant to get to know her at first. We even dated for a few weeks, but it was never enough for me. I had to have her. All of her. I sometimes wonder why I do what I do, why I am the way I am. I even contemplate leaving a life of crime and having a more normal life. But then I remember how much I love the power to do anything I wish, to make my own rules. The power and the fear with which people regard me is intoxicating. A night with Arya could never be as rewarding if she were willing. You are afraid too. I can sense it."

Carlos chuckled. "Lucky for you I don't like blonds. That was a nice little chat but now back to business."

Annie fought the straps unsuccessfully as Carlos filled a syringe with a clear liquid. He inserted the needle into her arm. The room began to spin and slowly disappeared as everything went black.

Arya was stuck with Ramón as Carlos drugged Annie. Ramón and Arya ignored each other as Ramón watched the football game on television. Finally, Arya stood up and said, "I'm going to take a shower."

As she walked towards the bathroom, Ramón followed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" snapped Arya.

"Don Carlos said to keep my eyes on you." he leered.

Arya leaned in close to his face. "You try anything like that again and I _will _kick your ass. I don't care how mad Carlos will be, it will be worth it to smack that stupid look off your ugly face."

She took out her fear and frustration on the bathroom door, slamming it as hard as she could. Arya needed to get out her anger on someone and Ramón made it easy. The guard would undoubtedly complain to Carlos, but Arya would deal with his punishment later.

Once the water was turned up as hot as it could go, Arya stepped into the shower. Her night, and entire day, with Carlos left her feeling filthy. Though the water was scalding her skin, it felt good to wash away the grime as though every trace of Carlos could be scrubbed away. Arya allowed herself the refuge of her delusion, but she knew that there was no escaping Carlos.

Author's Note: I need you help in deciding where to go with this fanfiction. I was thinking of wrapping up this story and making a sequel involving Arya and the new CW show Nikita, but not including Covert Affairs anymore. Or, I want to keep writing about Covert Affairs and do a series of crossovers with other shows such as White Collar, Burn Notice, Lie to Me, or anything else that you guys would be interested in reading about. After giving this some thought, I can't seem to decide. Thanks for your input!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rescued

Arya breathed deeply, in and out. The relaxation technique did nothing to calm her frantically beating heart. She had survived two years with Carlos, but she could not imagine how she was going to get through the next few minutes. The world was closing in on her, and Arya felt so utterly trapped. She was being crushed by her own fear and panic.

A scream welled up in her throat, but Arya suppressed it. She was better than the sniveling mess she had become. She was an assassin trained by the CIA. She did have self-control. She did have power. And she was going to escape. She had done it once, she could do it again.

Arya had the advantage of surprise on her side. Carlos had not re-poisoned her yet nor replanted the tracker in her arm. He wouldn't be expecting her to make a move so soon.

Carlos yawned and stretched beside her. Still half asleep, he reached for her.

"Don't you have to go to the office today? Haven't you spent enough time playing hooky?" Arya said with a newfound confidence.

"I think I'll call in sick." he responded playfully. "The office will run without me for another day."

Carlos rolled on top of Arya, straddling her. She pushed him away with disgust.

"I love it when you fight back." he whispered, his breath hot against her face.

Arya wriggled out of the tangle of sheets.

"Where do you think you're going?" Carlos asked, amused.

"To the shower."

"Sounds like fun." he said, going after her.

Arya shut the door in his face and locked it. She ignored his shouting and his threats and proceeded to turn on the water. She then exited through the other door to the bathroom, using a bobby pin to lock that door from the outside as well. That way Carlos would not be able to enter the bathroom and discover she was not there.

Stealthily stepping down the hallway, Arya entered one of the guest bedrooms. She darted into the closet and shut the door behind her. With her fingers shaking from adrenaline, she recalled the pitches of the keypad that she had heard the night before and punched in the code to the safe. The code worked out to be 0612, the date that they had met.

The safe clicked open and revealed its contents: several envelopes of cash, some documents, and a gun. Arya picked up the gun and checked the magazine. Six bullets. She closed the safe and exited the closet.

Creeping back down the hall, Arya reached Carlos's bedroom. She could still hear him pounding on the bathroom door. Arya swung open the door and Carlos spun around. Using both hands Arya had the gun pointed steadily at Carlos's heart. She willed herself to pull the trigger. Carlos took a step forward.

"Don't move!" she shouted.

"You're not going to shoot me," he said gently, "you're not a killer."

Arya let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"That's where you're wrong. I was trained from birth by the CIA to do exactly that. To kill. I only met you after I ran from my handlers."

Carlos was shocked. "I could tell that you had some kind of training but is that really true?"

Arya nodded, tears streaming down her face. Carlos inched forward and with a cry she pressed the gun to his head to stop him.

She began to talk; her voice growing louder, the tears coming faster.

"You can never understand; nobody can. I will never forget the things they made me do, the people I've killed. I am haunted by my past everywhere I go, and no matter how far I run the past always catches up with me. I thought I could start over by killing anyone who knew who I was, but before I could kill Wilcox I had a revelation. With Wilcox dead, then nobody would know that I had ever existed. I didn't want to disappear, so I let him live. And killing you now, even though I want to, it won't get me anywhere. I'll never be free."

Her words came tumbling out in a torrent of despair.

"But the worst part is that I could have loved you. We both would have struggled with our dark sides and overcame them together. You understood me; you were the only one who ever understood me. But then you had to ruin everything and make it even worse. I can't take it! I just want the pain to stop."

Arya's face was twisted with unspeakable grief and anguish.

"It hurts!" she cried. "I'm not strong enough."

Arya took the gun from Carlos's head and held the gun to her own. Carlos leapt up and tackled her onto the bed, knocking the gun out of reach. He quickly cuffed her wrist to the bedpost so that she wouldn't go after the gun.

Carlos cradled Arya's face as she sobbed.

They both jumped as the staccato pops of gunfire filled the house. Carlos grabbed the gun and ran to the top of the stairs. He could see Ramón lying dead at the bottom of the stairs, his weapon lying next to him.

"The CIA are here." he said with a hint of alarm. "Goodbye, my love."

As Carlos leaned over Arya to give her one final kiss, he folded her fingers around a small, hard object.

"I'm sorry mi amour." he whispered, his words barely audible.

Carlos threw on a pair of jeans, tucking the gun into the waistband. He left the room at a run.

Her wait had been for nothing. Even though the CIA had arrived, Carlos was going to get away. He undoubtedly had an exit strategy in case anything like this occurred. Arya knew that he would be able to lose the CIA agents and escape to start a new life, hopefully a life that did not include her. Arya had just hoped that the CIA would have been able to lock Carlos away where he belonged.

Arya opened her hand and saw the exquisite diamond ring resting in her palm. She slipped the ring onto her finger and watched the diamond sparkle in the bright light of the morning.

Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Arya heard a bloodcurdling scream and realized that it came from her. Thankfully she fainted.

Annie woke up to a voice calling her name. She groggily tried to open her eyes. With a tremendous effort she peered through her lashes at the hazy form above her. The person was speaking but she couldn't understand the words. Her surroundings drifted in and out of focus, and Annie fell back asleep.

Jai raced up the stairs of Carlos's house taking them two at a time. He heard a shriek of agony. Arya. Jai followed the sound running as fast as he could until he reached a door. Dreading what he might find, Jai pushed open the door and saw Arya lying unconscious on a bed. The sheets beneath her were soaked with blood.

Barely able to get the words out, Jai radioed for help from the other members of the team. Jai noticed that Arya was cuffed to the bed, which left him feeling sick to his stomach. One of the members of the team, Jack, had been recruited to the CIA for his medical expertise. His years in med school, combined with his impressive physique, made him a valuable asset.

Jack peeled away the bloody bed-sheets.

"She just miscarried." he said quietly. "We need to get her to a hospital before she loses any more blood."

Jack and Jai carried Arya to the van. The team leader Eric was waiting with Annie who was drugged and barely conscious. They rushed to the nearest hospital while the remainder of the CIA personnel dealt with Carlos's guards and gather the incriminating paperwork.

They called Joan to inform her of their success, but it was a bittersweet victory. They had saved Annie and Arya but lost Carlos. The Agency would keep looking, but Carlos had the money and the connections to disappear.

After spending several anxious hours in the waiting room of the ER, Annie and Arya were confirmed to be alright. Arya had lost a lot of blood, but she would recover. Her cuts and bruises had been tended to. Rest was the best medicine.

Annie had been given multiple doses of a truth serum. The drugs were powerful hallucinogens and needed to be flushed out of her system. Annie was weak from her ordeal. For several days she hardly slept and was not adequately fed. However, she too would heal.

While both women would be physically fine, no one could predict as to what their mental states would be.

Jai pushed for the earliest possible release that could be medically approved. The doctors at the hospital were told nothing about their patients except that they were involved with the government. Upon their release two days later, Annie and Arya were taken back to Langley to be placed in the medical wing under the close supervision of Doctor Brennan.

For the majority of the time in the hospital and on the plane back to Langley, Annie and Arya were either asleep or sedated. The morning that they were returned Langley, the whole Agency was waiting with bated breath for Annie and Arya to wake up.

Author's Note: Here is the rescue that you have all been waiting for! Tell me what you think!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

Purpose

The sunlight streaming through the window gave the drab hospital room a warm glow. Arya sensed the light through her closed eyelids. Tentatively, she opened her eyes to see Auggie and Joan sitting at the foot of her bed.

Joan gave Arya a rare smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"I'll be alright." Arya shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "What did the doctor say?"

Joan paused. "You don't remember anything from the past few days? You were taken to the hospital in France right after you were rescued because you miscarried. I am so sorry."

The blood drained from Arya's face.

"I was pregnant?" she said in disbelief.

Arya had irregular estrogen cycles as a result of the way she was genetically modified. Arya had always thought that she would never be able to have children.

Closing her eyes, Arya inhaled deeply.

"What about Carlos? Did you find him?"

Joan shook her head. "We're doing our best."

Jai knocked on the door. Upon seeing that Arya was awake he let out a visible sigh of relief.

"I'm really glad you're OK." he told Arya warmly. "Joan," he continued, "Arthur needs to see you."

Joan rose and followed Jai out the door.

Auggie moved his chair closer to Arya.

"Are you really alright?" he asked. "Did you get the antidote?"

Arya nodded. "He also neglected to poison me again, so thank goodness for that."

Auggie frowned. Despite her assurances, Arya was not alright. The guarded look was back in her eyes, and she moved with the tense, jerky motions of a caged animal. Physically, she would recover in a few days, but Auggie knew that it would take longer for her to regain her ability to trust.

Annie walked into the room, breaking the silence. She ran over and hugged Arya, careful not to jostle her.

"How are you doing?" asked Arya.

"I'm all back to normal." said Annie cheerfully. "I was pretty drugged up for a while, but once the doctors got all of the truth serum out of my system I felt fine. After we flew back from France, I was exhausted so I just slept for a few hours. We've all been waiting for you to wake up these past few days. You had me worried."

"What did you tell your sister?" Arya wondered.

"While I was gone, Joan came to the house and said that I had gone to Hawaii to look at some pottery for the Smithsonian. She told Danielle that I had contracted an exotic virus and that I couldn't call because there was no cell service on Maui. Luckily Danielle bought the story. When I came home she was so mad that I forgot to tell her that I was going to Hawaii and that I didn't bring back any presents."

Annie's laugh sounded forced. "That's Danielle."

Arya could see right through Annie's false cheer for Arya too pretended that everything was fine. Jai stuck his head back in the room and announced that everyone had to go to Arthur's office for a meeting.

Auggie, with a show of chivalry, took Annie's arm and led her down the hallway. Arya and Jai followed a few paces behind.

"Jai?" whispered Arya, locking her eyes on his.

"What's wrong?" he replied, concerned.

"Don't let them lock me away." she said softly, her eyes vulnerable. "I know that the agency will want to keep me here until they catch Carlos, but I don't want to be a prisoner anymore. Will you help me?"

Jai did not respond, a pained expression on his face. He knew that Arya was right: Joan had told him herself that Arya was to remain at Langley.

"I'll see what I can do." he said finally. "But I can't make any promises."

"Thank you." said Arya, sorry that she was going to have to deceive Jai. She hardened her heart in preparation.

Auggie and Annie had already taken their seats in Arthur's office. Arya and Jai joined the group. Joan was there along with the members of the DPD teams who had orchestrated the rescue.

Arthur cleared his throat.

"On behalf of everyone here at Langley, I want to wish you both a welcome back."

His statement was greeted with smiles and clapping.

"Congratulations on a successful mission. All of the operatives returned home safely, and we were able to amass large amounts of data on Carlos Mañoso's criminal trafficking activities. Now that we have lists of his buyers and sellers, we can make some serious headway on stopping the import and export of drugs and illegal weapons into this country. For that, I commend you all. Joan, go ahead."

Joan stood up.

"Carlos did elude us when we raided his house. By now he is probably deep underground. Due to his many contacts, he will be able to remain hidden without coming into contact with the outside world for a long time. Even though it will be difficult, we are still going to keep searching for the Jackal as we take down his empire. Everyone will be briefed on the details shortly. I would like to speak to Annie, Arya, Jai, and August. Everyone else may go."

The four stood around Arthur's desk facing the powerful couple.

"We have determined that for the sake of Arya's safety she should stay here at the Agency. Annie, I want you to continue to be her handler while Arya is here. August, you are to make her an ID so that she can leave and enter the building without a hassle."

"What does this mean exactly? Am I going to be allowed to leave?" asked Arya.

"Well, I know that this is hardly ideal, but for the time being I want you to stay here at the Agency. In a few weeks, if Carlos has not resurfaced, then you can leave and go around the city as long as you are accompanied by an agent."

"We all have a lot to do." Joan continued, "We need to sort through all of Carlos's files. He wrote a lot of them in code, which will need to be deciphered. We were just lucky enough to pick up his list of clients and suppliers, so as Arthur said, we do have some names to work with. Let's get back to work."

"Joan, I have a preposition to make." said Jai. "Instead of Arya having to stay here at the Agency, why doesn't she stay at my father' house? He's never there. He spends most of his time in Florida pretending to be retired. Even though he doesn't really live there most of the time, the CIA still has guards posted outside the house since my dad is a former CIA director. The house is very safe, and this way Arya won't have to be cooped up anywhere. I can bring her here on my way to work. Would that be okay?"009

"Please," added Arya. "I know that you just want to keep me around to help decode Carlos's papers. I can still help even if I'm not living here."

Arthur looked slightly guilty. Arya had been right; they did need her assistance with Carlos's files.

"I guess I can allow it." said Joan finally. "Arthur, any objections?"

"I suppose that can be arranged." he agreed.

They all left Arthur's office and headed back to the DPD wing. Everyone was quickly put to work. Arya sat next to Jai as they sorted through boxes of papers from Carlos's home.

"I don't even know how to thank you." Arya said gratefully. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You deserve better than this." said Jai. "It's not fair for the Agency to take your life away just because they need you. After everything you've been through, you should be free to make our own choices."

"As long as I'm not locked away, I don't mind working with the CIA." admitted Arya. "I just don't want them to lie to me or only tell me half of the story. I'm involved now, and I want to know what goes on."

Jai laughed. "You and me both. No one really gets the full truth from the CIA."

Arya smiled back. She genuinely liked Jai and felt bad that she was going to use him. At the same time, Arya finally felt whole. For the first time in a long time, she had a mission of her own. Arya had a plan for revenge.

Author's Note: You guys are amazing, and it really makes my day to see that you take interest in what I

have to say. Thank you for reading and please review!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Plan in Action

Arya examined her reflection in the mirror. She generally refrained from looking at her own image unless it was absolutely necessary, but Arya wanted to look good tonight. And she did.

Arthur had decided to give a formal commendation to all of the personnel involved in Annie and Arya's rescue, and the ceremony was to be held at the Agency at eight o'clock. Afterwards, Jai had convinced Arya to go out for a celebratory dinner. He thought that some time outside of the Agency would be beneficial for her. Arya was going to decline the invitation except when Jai added that his father would be in town, she had to accept. Arya had a few words to say to Henry Wilcox.

Under Annie's supervision, Arya had bought a dress and heels to wear to the commendation. Annie had picked out the fitted silver number, and Arya could not resist the appeal of black stilettos. She pinned up a few locks of hair and applied her makeup. After some deliberation she went for a smoky eye and blush to accentuate her cheekbones.

"I'm here, are you ready?" called Jai.

"Coming." answered Arya.

Jai's breath caught in his throat as Arya walked down the stairs. He grinned. She smiled back hesitantly.

"Do I look okay?" she asked shyly.

"You look amazing." he said earnestly.

Annie ran back to her desk to grab some paperwork before the commendation started. She was in such a hurry that she did not notice Auggie until she walked into him. Auggie caught Annie before she could fall. Even after Annie steadied herself Auggie did not let go and she realized how right it felt to be in his arms.

"Annie, I . . ." he began.

"Shhh." she whispered, putting her finger to his lips. "Just don't let go."

For the first time since her ordeal with Carlos, Annie finally felt safe. Auggie breathed in the scent of her hair as Annie rested her cheek on his shoulder. They stood, utterly connected, each knowing the other's feelings without having to say a word. They could have remained together forever, but Auggie broke away.

"We're gonna be late." he said softly. "But this doesn't have to be over."

Taking her arm, Annie and Auggie headed down the hallway to the reception room.

After the ceremony, Arya and Jai entered the bar. They took their seats at a table and surveyed the menu.

"My dad should be here any minute now. I'm sorry, but he kind of forced me to invite him along. He's really stubborn."

"We'll now I know where you get it from." laughed Arya. "It's really fine; I'd love to meet your dad."

Suddenly, Jai's phone beeped. He groaned as he read the message.

"I feel terrible, but I have to go back to the Agency. I promise I'll just be half an hour, tops. There's a lead that I have to check out. You and my dad should order appetizers, and we can all eat when I get back. My dad's really not that bad. Do you think you could make small talk just for a little while? I really want this night to work."

"Don't worry." assured Arya, finding Jai's nervousness endearing. "We'll be fine. No one's mad at you, and I'm sure your dad will understand. Everything will be all right, go back to the Agency, and I'll see you in a bit."

She waved cheerily as Jai left the bar. Everything was going according to plan. Right after the ceremony she had planted a made up document among Carlos's files linking him to a plan to assassinate an African dictator whose military government was being closely monitored by the CIA. As the agent in charge of deciphering Carlos's files, Jai was sure to be called in. However, Arya had placed another falsified file in a different location that contained a written cancelation of the plan because the people responsible for the plan refused to pay Carlos's steep price for the hit.

Arya walked over to the bar where she had a better vantage point of the patrons entering and exiting the bar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Henry Wilcox arrive and be led to the table. She pivoted, two martinis in hand, and strode over to the table.

"Hello, Henry." she purred. "Remember me?"

He blanched.

"I see you do remember. Care for a drink?"

She placed the glass on the table. He eyed her suspiciously.

"Really, Henry?" she said with mock sadness. "You think so low of me? If I were here to kill you, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Acknowledging her reasoning, Wilcox downed the drink.

Adrenaline coursed through Arya's veins, and the power felt good. She knew that everyone had an evil side of them. What differentiated people was how much they gave into that part of themselves. With a pang of sadness she admitted that Carlos had been completely overcome by his evil inclination until only a tiny part of the man she had loved remained inside of him.

Arya knew that she had to tap into her desire for revenge and that she had to be the villain in order to get Wilcox to take her seriously.

"What do you want?" he muttered.

"That's more like it." she simpered. "Tell me, darling, has Jai told you about me?"

"What did you do to my son?" he growled. "Where is he?"

"I wouldn't dream of harming him." she paused. "Unless you fail to tell me what I want to know."

"Where is Jai?" Wilcox insisted.

"He got called back to the Agency. You can confirm with him if you like. He said to apologize and that it couldn't be helped. And we should order our appetizers now and eat the main course together when he gets back."

"Wait a minute?" said Wilcox, connecting the pieces. "You're the one he invited? You're Carlos's girl whose been staying at my house?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Arya said. "The house is lovely though. Now back to the matter at hand. As to what I want, I want you to give me every last scrap of the paper trail documenting my existence. I know that I was an expensive project. How did you justify the spending of the money? Tell me everything, and I will know if you are lying."

"There's nothing to give. The reason why you were such a success at first was because my partner paid for everything out of pocket. There was no governmental money involved. Everything was under the pretense of private lab research. Once you were sent on missions, that money was written off as being used to fund a series of intelligence gathering missions. The agents involved had all been determined to be unsuitable for field work."

"What did you do to them?" asked Arya flatly.

"I sent them on a suicide mission, only they didn't know it at the time. Then, everyone believed that that money I spent on you had been spent on the failed mission. I made sure that there would never be a paper trail to incriminate me. I created you for the good of my country, but I knew that there were those who would not understand, so I had to be careful."

"What about now?" she inquired. "I know that there are more like me."

"Where did you hear that?" snorted Wilcox. "It would be way to expensive."

"Why are you lying to me?" asked Arya threateningly. "I promise that you will pay the consequences if you don't tell me the truth."

"There really are no others quite like you. Instead, we take prisoners from jail and train them to serve their country."

"Tell me more." she ordered.

Wilcox explained that he had founded an organization called Division, which used convicts to perform all sorts of covert operations. Once Wilcox retired, he entrusted Division to a longtime friend of his, Percy.

"That's everything." said Wilcox. "Now give me your word that you won't hurt my boy."

Arya examined Wilcox's face closely. He was telling the truth.

"You have my word." she said. "And don't worry; you won't be seeing me again. After tomorrow, I'm planning to disappear for a long time."

Arya had always suspected that there were others in her situation from the information she had acquired from the doctor who had created her. Arya had conducted an extensive interrogation before she killed him and fled to France. The criminals were an unexpected twist, but Arya's goal was still the same.

Arya would not allow anyone to suffer the way she had. Arya was going to bring down Division for good.

Author's Note: I plan to write one more chapter and bring this fanfiction to a close. Then I would like to write a sequel involving Arya and the TV show Nikita. I hope to continue writing about Covert Affairs in the future. Thanks to all of you for reading and for your feedback!

Also, over the next few weeks I'm going to edit the previous chapters and I apologize for any mistakes.


	18. Epilogue

Epilogue

The Agency was up and running smoothly when Jai and Arya pulled up to the checkpoint. After flashing their IDs, the pair went inside. The hustle and bustle of the CIA seemed almost comforting to Arya as she began her final day at Langley.

Jai and Arya stopped for a cup of coffee at the cafeteria. They saw Annie and Auggie sitting at a table, each leaning towards the other, engrossed in conversation. Arya caught Jai watching Annie.

"You like her, don't you?" she said with a sympathetic smile.

Jai turned to Arya.

"I thought I did." he admitted. "But now, I'm not so sure. Anyway, it seems like she's taken."

Jai had been aware that both he and Auggie had feelings for Annie. Jai also knew that Annie had not gotten over Ben Mercer. The question of whether it was worth it to put his heart on the line for someone who would never totally love him back had always nagged at Jai. But now Jai might have a chance at a relationship that could be completely mutual.

Even after spending so much time with Arya, he still sometimes had trouble catching his breath when she smiled. They had the same sarcastic sense of humor which helped passed the hours that they spent combing through Carlos's files. The pity and protectiveness that Jai had felt for Arya since the first time they met had blossomed into something more. After all that Arya had been through, Jai knew not to rush things. But in time, who knew what could happen.

"Bring me back a souvenir from your trip to lala land?" Arya teased.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing. Let's get to the office."

The last of Carlos's files had been interpreted, and his criminal empire had been brought to its knees. Without Carlos to guide it, the whole network had crumbled. In addition, Carlos's papers were physical evidence that were used to arrest dozens of figures in the Columbian drug trade.

"Will you come with me to talk to Joan?" Arya asked.

"Sure," Jai replied, "what's going on?"

"Well," she began, "now that the Agency doesn't need me anymore, I want to start my life again. I need a life outside the Agency."

"But Carlos is still out there!" interjected Jai. "You won't be safe."

"I'm not going to let him stop me from living my life. I can't let Carlos control me anymore."

When Jai could see that there was no arguing with Arya, he went with her to speak with Joan.

After hearing Arya's request Joan simply said, "I can't stop you from leaving."

Arya gave her a wry smile. "Thank you." she said.

"Where will you go?" asked Joan.

"I'm thinking South America. Somewhere warm."

"Can we at least get you a plane ticket?" asked Joan.

"Thank you," said Arya sincerely, "but I'll take care of it."

No one was more surprised than Arya when Joan gave the girl a warm hug. It felt strange to be cared about as an equal, as a friend.

"Good luck with everything." said Joan kindly. "I'll let Arthur know that you're leaving."

Jai wanted to treat Arya to a goodbye lunch, so he and Arya headed to the cafeteria.

"I really hope you understand, Jai, that as much as I care about you I really have to leave. I . . . I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry. I just need to pretend that I'm a normal person and have some semblance of a life."

"I'll miss you." said Jai. "But I know that leaving is what's best for you. You don't have to apologize; this doesn't have to be goodbye forever. We can still keep in touch, right?"

"Of course." replied Arya guiltily. "Let me give you my email address."

She wrote out the address on a napkin as Annie and Auggie walked over to the table. They pulled up chairs.

"We heard the news." said Annie, "Good luck with everything."

"Thank you." said Arya. "I don't think I ever really told you all how much I appreciate what you did for me."

Annie got up and hugged Arya in a tight embrace.

"It's OK." Annie whispered. "None of it was your fault, and we're all safe so don't blame yourself. Go enjoy your life. You're an amazing person and you have so much to offer the world. Just keep in touch."

"I will." promised Arya, blinking back tears.

With one hand on the table to guide him, Auggie stood up and positioned himself in front of Arya.

"Don't I get a hug?" he asked playfully.

Arya smiled and wrapped her arms around Auggie.

"Take care." she said softly. Although she said nothing, Auggie knew what she felt.

Annie and Auggie left to give Jai and Arya some time together.

Arya turned to Jai.

"I'm terrible at goodbyes." she said with a sad smile.

Jai rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm really glad to have gotten the chance to know you despite the circumstances, and we can always keep in touch."

He leaned in closer and gave Arya the gentlest possible kiss on the lips. Arya's breath caught in her throat and she jerked away from Jai.

"I'm sorry" they cried in unison.

"I should have known better." said Jai, distraught. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." said Arya. "I just need more time."

With a slight hesitation, Arya hugged Jai to show that all was forgiven. Ashamed at the botched farewell, Jai simply waved to Arya as she left the Agency. Arya waved back and stepped into the sunlight.

She put the past behind her and was ready to take down Division.

**Author's Note:** You guys are great for keeping up with the story and I'm so grateful. For all of you Nikita fans, I hope you continue reading the sequel "The Best Laid Plans." Thanks for everything!


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